International polices cause a negative impact on African trade in key export crops, including cashews, cotton and coffee, says Africa Action. The group has compiled a series of documents from the Mozambique News Agency, the UN's Regional Information Network, Oxfam and Food First which expose the damage done by rich country protectionism combined with imposing free trade on the poor.

Former finance ministry permanent secretary Stella Chibanda has appeared in a Lusaka magistrates' court in connection with the unexplained acquisition of property.

Forty customs officers of the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) are being investigated for conniving with car importers to fleece the Government of revenue by under-declaring and under-valuing motor-vehicles.

Malawi's ruling party has fired the outspoken chairperson of a parliamentary committee which was investigating a maize scandal blamed for worsening severe food shortages here, an official said on Wednedsay.

Two hospital administrators at major Zululand hospitals were arrested on Tuesday in an ongoing fraud and corruption swoop. The latest arrests form part of a province-wide crackdown on about 180 corrupt Health Department officials and suppliers involved in a scam in which they benefited financially to the tune of more than R35 million.

President Thabo Mbeki spoke out against corruption and inadequate service delivery during the closing session of the African National Congress (ANC) policy conference. Mbeki said the quality of ANC councillors had to be improved because "they are very much at the front trenches".

After more than a year of deadlock which had put at risk national and local elections, revisions to the election laws were agreed on 20 September at a special session of parliament. The deadlock was broken after the personal intervention of Renamo head Afonso Dhlakama. This clears the way for local elections due in mid-2003.

Reports of increasing incidents of torture against members of Zimbabwe's political opposition are circulating after rural elections came to an end this weekend. Witnesses say that a number of those arrested - including an opposition MP - have been assaulted and are in need of medical attention. Meanwhile, the ICFTU caught up with Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions Secretary General, Wellington Chibhebhe, to talk about the challenges for trade unions and for democracy in Zimbabwe.

Yesterday, we sat outside Harare Central Police Station with Edwina and Newton Spicer. After searching for 40 hours since his arrest with four others, they were finally presented with their son, Tawanda Tom. All five had been tortured. Tawanda had been singled out, severely beaten, given 30-40 electric shocks, his body bruised, his tongue in tatters. And they were being kept in custody for the weekend. He was allowed a lawyer. "Sorry - no doctor, no doctor, no doctor, no doctor, no doctor." (New regulation - prisoners can only be seen by prison doctors.) And Tom is the lucky one, the others had no one there to push for them.

Two parents dealing with this horror sitting on the lawn of Harare Central. Gathering their energy trying not to be overwhelmed, connecting with a support system somewhere out there in the world. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, FOR CELL PHONES. Armed police in riot gear walk in and out, a sparrow builds a nest in the palm tree overhead. A small baby boy screams with anger at having his nappy changed and the mother jokes with me about the volume of his protest. Over the road street kids search through the rubbish looking for plastic to resell. Next door a colourful market of second hand cloths stands without customers. As I write - 5.30pm Sunday - they have lost him again, haven't seen him all day, have been told he has been moved again. I am struck again and again by this thought: If there were 20 people standing on the steps of the police station in silent protest at the torture that is happening within, if there were 40, or 100, or what if there were more? Just to let the perpetrators of such outrage know they are being seen.

It would not then, be so easy, to say to parents and a lawyer: "Good morning Mr and Mrs Spicer this is your tortured 18 year old son."
"No he may not see a doctor."
"I'm sorry he has disappeared again."
"You will have to leave."

Burkina Faso had made a serious commitment to improving children's rights and had enjoyed some success in doing so, but was constrained by poverty and cultural resistance among other factors, United Nations child rights experts heard this week.

Migrants’ remittances to developing countries are a larger source of income than official development assistance and offer a more stable source of income, says a paper prepared for the Danish Centre for Development Research. Any policy to make use of migrants as a development resource will have to understand the size and allocation of remittances and the roles played by migrants and their communities in the remittance processes, says the paper.

The privatisation process has not improved the situation of the poor in most countries, with the process being marred by corruption, increased prices, and decreased accessibility to basic social services for the poor. A report by Bread for the World on the practical experiences of civil society organisations of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) also found that the debt relief as agreed in the Highly Indebted Poor Country initiative is insufficient in the wake of the financial requirements of the PRSPs.

A South African unionist protesting the privatization of electricity, a Cameroonian development expert protesting an oil pipeline and a Tanzanian activist protesting plans to allow private companies to buy public water delivery systems were among the people marching in Washington against the World Bank and IMF in late September.

I think your Newsletter is the best that I have ever seen. It's important not only for Africa. Its useful for all the NGOs of the international community. Among other things, I am in charge of managing the website of the Latin American Forum on Citizen's Diplomacy, a recently created space where all the major networks of the region that work at the international level exhange ideas and experiences. I am going to inform them on your fine work and establish a link to your website so that our region can learn from yours. Congratulations!!!! Keep up your good work. Juan Antonio Blanco, Director of International Cooperation, Human Rights Internet, Canada

As negotiations between European nations and 77 poor countries get underway, Jenny Brown, Christian Aid's Senior European Union Policy Officer, argues that the European Union must allow its former colonies the freedom to protect their vulnerable producers and emerging industries.

American cotton subsidies are destroying livelihoods in Africa and other developing regions. By encouraging over-production and export dumping, these subsidies are driving down world prices – now at their lowest levels since the Great Depression. While America’s cotton barons get rich on government transfers, African farmers suffer the consequences.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) has called for a major overhaul of international policy approach to Africa's development following the failure of structural adjustment programmes (Saps). The organisation said after almost two decades of applying Saps, poverty levels in Africa have risen and slow erratic growth is the norm. It adds that rural crises have intensified and de-industrialisation has damaged future growth prospects.

The Southern Africa Institute of Fund Raising has pleasure in presenting a three-day "Resource Mobilisation and Fund Development Course" at it's offices in North Riding, Randburg between 27 - 29 November, 2002. For bookings e-mail admin@saifundraising.org.za

The Communication Initiative are publishers of The Drum Beat electronic magazine, the knowledge based web site http://www.comminit.com, and a range of interactive processes such as the Pulse Poll and On-Line Research, as well as a number of other activities related to communication for development. They have initiated an evaluation of their work and are seeking your input. Please visit the web site provided if you would like to participate.

The introduction of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in government processes is fostering a closer relationship between citizens and states, pushing official bodies towards more transparency and accountability. They are also posing a challenge to traditional decision-making structures. Such are the main conclusions of a recent joint study by UNESCO and the Commonwealth Network of Information Technology for Development (COMNET-IT) on e-governance in 15 countries.